Does the road wind up-hill all the way?
  Yes, to the very end.
Will the day's journey take the whole long day?
  From [morn]1 to night, my friend.

But is there for the night a resting place?
  A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.
May not the darkness hide it from my face?
  You cannot miss that inn.

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?
  Those who have gone before.
Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?
  They will not keep you [standing]2 at that door.

Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
  Of labour you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
  [Yes]3, beds for all who come.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

First published in Macmillan's Magazine, February 1861

¹ F. Rzewski: "noon"
² F. Rzewski: "waiting"
³ F. Rzewski: "Yea"

Text Authorship:

• by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), "Up-Hill" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Elizabeth Jane Caufeild, Countess of Charlemont , "Up-hill", published 1874? [ voice and piano ], London : J.B. Cramer [sung text not yet checked]
• by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Up-Hill" [ soprano and piano ], from Christina's World -- 5 Songs for Soprano and Piano on Poems by Christina Rossetti, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "Does the road wind upwards" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "Up-hill" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "Up-hill", from The Nantucket Songs, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Frederic Rzewski (1938 - 2021), "Uphill", 1996-2002 [ voice and piano ], from The Road: a novel for solo piano, no. 60 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "Up-Hill", 1886 [ voice and piano or orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 125